In response to the widespread Palestinian Arab anger at Mahmoud Abbas' reported "condemnation" of the terror attack in Jerusalem this week (that he was pressured to issue by the US), a Fatah official has assured her people that he doesn't really mean it.

Fatah: President Abbas's Statements on the Jerusalem Operation for Diplomatic PurposesThe Palestine National Liberation Organization, Fatah, has justified Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas's statements in which he condemned the operation in Jerusalem yesterday. The organization considered these statements to be political diplomacy, according to a statement by Najat Abu-Bakr, deputy for Fatah in the Palestinian Legislative Council [PLC].

Abu-Bakr expressed her belief that President Abbas's behaviour under such conditions is the height of diplomacy because he is required to make statements like everyone else. He is responsible for the entire Palestinian people. She pointed out that the public diplomatic front does not accept bloody statements, but ones that are extremely balanced and well-thought out.

In an interview with Al-Quds radio today, Wednesday [19 November], Abu-Bakr said: "The Palestinian president is forced to speak this way before the world. These statements are responsible for the plight of the Palestinian people." She noted that the objective behind these statements is to light up all the diplomatic signs for the world to wake up to the importance of the Palestinian cause, which the settlers have encroached on through their practices against the Palestinians.

Five Israelis were killed yesterday morning, Tuesday [18 November], and others were injured in an operation of shooting and stabbing with cleavers against extremist Jews in a synagogue on the so-called Agassi Street in the western part of occupied Jerusalem. Two Palestinians were also martyred; they were the two who carried out the attack according to reports by Israeli media sources.

Deputy Abu-Bakr clarified that President Abbas is giving the world more time to resolve the Palestinian cause, which is now going through a state of push and shove, while the scale of confrontation with the occupation is increasing. She noted that President Abbas's statements contain a clear message addressed to those who are aspiring to make Jerusalem a city for the Jews only, that there are forces that will not show any mercy towards the settlers.

She indicated that Israel is currently using a Talmudic policy based on destruction, killing, and saturating the Palestinians with even more death, particularly since the settlers in the West Bank possess 60,000 pieces of weaponry. Yesterday, they had a similar amount added to the weapons they already have, which is a dangerous indicator. Abu-Bakr considered the Israeli victims to be extremist settlers who are storming Al-Aqsa.

Abu-Bakr clarified that the Palestinians today are facing a battle that is spearheaded by the extremists in Israel consisting of rabbis. This situation compels us to always remember that the real base for action is the West Bank, which Israel is desecrating on a daily basis with its crimes.

So all of the news articles that claimed that Abbas condemned the attack were missing most of the story - something they should have known had they looked at the actual words in the statement he released.

And we also can see that the Palestinian Arab leadership is who is turning this into a religious war, essentially saying that rabbis are legitimate targets.

Palestinian behind wheel of van that rammed into three soldiers in West Bank says he was inspired by earlier car attack, planned more assaults, police say

IDF soldiers seen blocking the area where three soldiers were injured when a Palestinian driver rammed into a bus stop near the West Bank village of Al-Aroub close to the Gush Etzion Junction, south of Jerusalem, November 05, 2014. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

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·A Palestinian man confessed to running over soldiers in the West Bank earlier in the month in a planned attack, police said Thursday.

The terrorist behind the attack was named as Hamam Mesalmeh, a 23-year-old Hamas operative from Beit Awwa, southwest of Hebron in the West Bank.

“During interrogation by the Shin Bet (security service), he confessed to running down the soldiers as part of a planned attack,” a police statement said.

He was expected to be charged “within the next few days.”

Mesalmeh told police he was inspired to carry out the attack after a Palestinian rammed his car into a group of pedestrians in Jerusalem earlier the same day, killing two people.

He claimed he was also angered by images from Israel’s bloody summer war in Gaza, police said.

Mesalmeh reenacted the attack, which took place along a stretch of Route 60 near the Al-Aroub refugee camp, for investigators, and said he had been planning more attacks as well, according to police.

The army earlier informed the families of the three soldiers who were injured in the November 5 van attack in the Etzion Bloc region of the West Bank, south of Jerusalem, that the incident was nationalistically motivated, after wrapping up a two-week investigation into the incident, Channel 2 reported.

Mesalmeh turned himself in to Israeli authorities on November 6, ending a manhunt following the incident.

He told officials that he lost control of the large commercial vehicle he was driving, and panicked when he realized he had hit Israeli soldiers and fled the scene.

The parents of the three wounded soldiers maintained all along, based on the footage of the incident, that it was a deliberate attack. On November 9, Roni Aharonisaidthat his son, Moshe Aharoni, who was seriously injured in the hit-and-run, told him that the driver of the commercial van had accelerated as he barreled into the soldiers.

One soldier was seriously injured and two moderately hurt in the incident, which took place just after 10 p.m.

The crash came hours after a terror attack in which an East Jerusalem resident and Hamas member rammed his vehicle into a crowd of pedestrians in Jerusalem, killing a Border Police guard. The killer, Ibrahim al-Akary, was shot dead by police after getting out of his van and attacking people with a metal rod.

I must point out again that the existence of bloodthirsty antisemitic cartoons is not in itself evidence that Palestinian Arab society is sick. There are plenty of outliers who have access to the Internet who can easily post gruesome, offensive garbage, and fringe groups can be found anywhere.

However, the lack of any public pushback in Arabic against this clear Jew-hatred and bloodlust does indeed indicate that Palestinian society is sick. It might not be fashionable to say it - and Western reporters are loathe to write about it - butthere is no visible counterpoint to these repulsive images and the equally abhorrent messages that accompany them. Images like these are celebrated by many, and condoned by the rest, with their silence.

This is the fundamental story of the massacre. For once, the motives are crystal-clear.

It cannot be about "occupation" or "settlements" because the attack was inside the Green Line.It cannot be about "Al Aqsa" because the people who prayed there are not the types to ascend.It cannot be about "Israeli oppression" because the victims were not soldiers or reservists.

The facts are undeniable: the terrorists targeted the most Jewish looking people at a synagogue while they were at prayer.

The cartoons illustrate nicely what the west wants to hide: the targets are Jews. Period.

Palestinian Arab cartoons in general routinely depict "Israelis" as a Nazi-style caricatures of a bearded, black-clad men, even though no Israeli leader has ever resembled that person.These victims did.The cartoons taught generations of terrorists that their enemy is the Jews, not Israelis.

The West wants to find excuses for Palestinian terror, to pretend that both sides are part of the problem. But this attack, and these cartoons, combined with the glaring absence of any Palestinians who object to this kind of incitement, reveal the ugly truth: thatin the end it is about Jew-hatred.All the other reasons being given by pseudo-intellectuals of "occupation" or "Al Aqsa" or "Gaza" or bus drivers who commit suicide are simply excuses to divert the world's attention from the simple fact that this is really about the world's oldest hate.

Once you realize this you can start to understand the reality and not the spin that we've been fed for decades.

The PA leadership is trying to avoid embarrassment with the US, which is seeking to calm tensions following the attack in which two Palestinians killed four Jewish worshipers and a Druze Israeli policeman, the source told the paper.

The Palestinian Authority leadership has instructed its officials to avoid appearing in the international or Arab media and speaking about Tuesday’s terror attack at a Jerusalem synagogue, an unnamed Palestinian source told the Palestinian daily Al-Quds on Wednesday.

The PA leadership is trying to avoid embarrassment with the US, which is seeking to calm tensions following the attack in which two Palestinians killed four Jewish worshipers and a Druze Israeli policeman, the source told the paper.

US Secretary of State John Kerry not only condemned the gruesome killing, but also charged that it was a direct result of incitement in the Palestinian media.

“To have this kind of act, which is a pure result of incitement, of calls for ‘days of rage,’ of just irresponsibility, is unacceptable,” Kerry declared from London. “The Palestinian leadership must condemn this and they must begin to take serious steps to restrain any kind of incitement.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas acquiesced to Kerry’s demand and condemned the attack, but not before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led a diplomatic charge placing blame for the attack and the incitement that he said led to it squarely on Abbas.

By Wednesday several US media outlets, including The New York Times, had called out Abbas for inciting violence.

“The Palestinian [Authority] president, Mahmoud Abbas, had to be pushed by Secretary of State John Kerry into speaking out,” lamented the influential American newspaper’s Wednesday editorial. “’We condemn the killings of worshipers at the synagogue in Jerusalem and condemn acts of violence no matter their source,’ Mr. Abbas said in a statement. That was apparently the first time he had denounced Palestinian attacks in recent days….As a political leader, Mr. Abbas has a duty to make the moral case that such brutality and inhumanity can only bring shame upon the Palestinian people,” the Times concluded.

"Pictures from the scene of the heroic operation (i.e., the Jerusalem synagogue terror attack) at the religious Zionist institute, in response to the assassination of Martyr (Shahid) Yussuf Al-Ramouni 'Abu Jihad.'"

Ook Fatah vierde de ‘heroische operatie’:

"Handing out candy in the cities of the West Bank in celebration of the Jerusalem operation (i.e., the Jerusalem synagogue terror attack), which was carried out to avenge the execution of Martyr (Shahid) Yussuf Al-Ramouni and the violations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque." [Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page", Nov. 18, 2014]

Abbas veroordeelde de aanslag zoals gezegd nogal plichtmatig, en zei er direct achteraan dat hij een einde eiste aan de ‘invasions of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the provocations of the settlers, and the incitement on the part of several Israeli ministers."

Following this morning's murder of 4 Jewish worshippers in a Jerusalem synagogue, Palestinian Authority Chairman Abbas' advisor Sultan Abu Al-Einein immediately praised the attack as a "heroic operation" on his Facebook page. He posted graphic images showing pools of blood and dead Jews in prayer shawls, as well as a photo of the dead terrorists with a bloody butcher's knife on the ground next to them. Al-Einein referred to them as "Martyrs."

(See below -WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES)

These "Martyrs" were two Arab terrorists, Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal from East Jerusalem, who entered a synagogue in Jerusalem and attacked worshippers with guns, knives and axes, killing 4 and injuring 8, 4 of them seriously. The terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire with the Israeli Security Forces that arrived on the scene.

Speaking in the name of MPs from Abbas' Fatah movement, spokesman Jamal Tirawi announced that they "welcomed the Martyrdom-seeking operation (Istish'had) in Jerusalem," and were "escorting the Martyrs (Shahids) of the Abu Jamal family to Paradise." [Donia Al-Watan News website, Nov. 18, 2014]

Fatah also immediately celebrated the killings, announcing on Facebook that people were "handing out candy":

"Handing out candy in the cities of the West Bank in celebration of the Jerusalem operation (i.e., the Jerusalem synagogue terror attack), which was carried out to avenge the execution of Martyr (Shahid) Yussuf Al-Ramouni and the violations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque." [Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page", Nov. 18, 2014]

Palestinian leaders and media have been quick to explain today's murders as a response to the alleged killing of an Arab bus driver two days ago.On Nov. 16, 2014,Yussuf Al-Ramouni, an Arab bus driver from East Jerusalem, was found hanged at a bus terminal in Jerusalem. Although an autopsy performed by the IsraeliAbu Kabir Forensic Institute and a pathologist chosen by the family of Al-Ramounirevealed no signs of violence, Palestinian leaders and media immediately presented the incident as a murder perpetrated by "Jewish settlers."

Abbas' advisor Al-Einein presented today's murders of Jews as a "response" to "the assassination" of the bus driver:

"Pictures from the scene of the heroic operation (i.e., theJerusalemsynagogueterror attack) at the religiousZionist institute, in response to the assassination of Martyr (Shahid) Yussuf Al-Ramouni 'Abu Jihad.'"

[Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee member

Sultan Abu Al-Einein, Nov. 18, 2014]

Another Facebook page, possibly connected to Fatah, "Palestinian National Liberation Movement - Fatah," posted graphic pictures from the murder scene and wrote the following:"Pictures from the heroic operation (i.e., thesynagogueterror attack) inJerusalem.Yesterday, they said 'Death to the Arabs,' but they didn't realize that it was 'Death to theJews.'"[Facebook page of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement - Fatah", Nov. 18, 2014]

These responses by Fatah and Abbas' advisor glorifying the killings of innocent Israelis contradict the official response from Abbas and the Palestinian Authority, which condemned the attack:

"ThePresident's [Abbas'] Officehas always condemned the murder ofcitizenson any side, and today, it condemns the murder of the worshippers in thesynagogue in West Jerusalem." [WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), Nov. 18, 2014]

The announcement indirectly blamed Israel for the murders in that it went on to demand "an end to the invasions of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the provocations of the settlers, and the incitement on the part of several Israeli ministers."

This is not the first time the PA andAbbas' advisors transmit contradictory messages. PMW reported that while one advisor assured that Abbas was "making sure that our people is not drawn into a cycle of violence and counter-violence", his other advisor was heating up the atmosphere for more terror attacks by praising as "heroic Martyrs" terrorists who killed four and wounded dozens.

Similarly, Fatah's spokesman Ahmad Assaf said in a statement to the press that "the attack was the natural result of the Israeli violations in Jerusalem." [Russia Today news site in Arabic, Nov. 18, 2014]

(WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES)

The following are the graphic images from the terrorist attack this morning posted by Fatah and Abbas' advisor on Facebook:

Fatah Central Committee member Sultan Abu Al-Einein posted the following photo and text on his Facebook page:

Text:"Pictures from the scene ofthe heroic operation(i.e., the Jerusalem synagogue terror attack) at the religious Zionist institute, in response to the assassination of Martyr (Shahid) Yussuf Al-Ramouni 'Abu Jihad.'"

"ThePresident's [Abbas'] Officehas always condemned the murder ofcitizenson any side, and today, it condemns the murder of the worshippers in thesynagogue in West Jerusalem. In addition, it condemns all acts of violence regardless of their source, and demands an end to the invasions of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the provocations of the settlers, and the incitement on the part of several Israeli ministers.

In addition, the President's Office emphasizes that the time has come to end the occupation and eliminate the causes of the tension and violence. We emphasize our commitment to a just solution based on the two-state solution, in keeping with theresolutionsof the international institutions, and to preserving the atmosphere of calm and the understandings reached with [Jordanian] King Abdallah II and with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Amman [in November 2014]."

[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), Nov. 18, 2014]

"Fatah's parliamentary faction welcomed the Jerusalem operation (i.e., the Jerusalem synagogue terror attack), which was carried out by two residents from Jabal Mukkaber, and caused the deaths of four settlers. These statements were made by Fatah faction spokesman and member of PA Parliament (Legislative Council) Jamal Tirawi, who emphasized that the faction welcomed the Martyrdom-seeking (Istish'had) operation in Jerusalem, and was escorting the Martyrs (Shahids) of the Abu Jamal family to Paradise.

Fatah's parliamentary faction emphasized that this operation was carried out as part of the Palestinian response to the occupation's massacres and incitement, its invasions of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and prohibition of Muslims from entering it; the settlers' rampages [carried out] under the protection of a well-trained occupying army in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and to the oppression and racism against our people in the occupied interior (i.e., Israel)."

[Donia Al-Watan News website, Nov. 18, 2014]

"Responding to the operation (i.e., the Jerusalem synagogue terror attack) that resulted in the deaths of the two men who had carried it out, Fatah spokesman Ahmad Assaf said in a statement to the press that 'the attack was the natural result of the Israeli violations in Jerusalem.' In addition, Assaf emphasized that 'the Netanyahu government is leading us into a cycle of violence.'... Hamas welcomed the operation, and said it was a natural response to the Israeli actions."